Towel-rack



' E. T. BRIGHAM.

TOWEL RACK.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26, 1912.

1,378,2 1 4. v Patented May 17, 1921.

. v F 9 I i3 W leiszses [ILUQ/libl" UNITED STATES PATENT oer-ice.

EDWIN T. BRIGHAM, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, .ASSIGNOR TO JACQUES ROUSSO,OF

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

TOWEL-RACK.

Application filed September 26, 1912. Serial No. 722,473.

To all'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN T. BRIGHAM, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Towel-Racks, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to towel racks for use chiefly in publicbuildings, hotels, bath houses and the like, where it is a frequentoccurrence for hand or face towels to be carried away or throwncarelessly aside, and my object is to produce a simple and efficientrack designed chiefly for the support of towels of the class mentioned,where by the towels are accessibly supported with more than a reasonabledegree of security against loss, and upon which towels as used, can beisolated from the unused or clean ones.

With this general object in view, the invention consists in certainnovel and peculiar features of construction and organization ashereinafter described and claimed; and in order that it may be fullyunderstood reference is to "be had to the accompanying drawing, inwhich- Figure l, is a side elevation of a towel rack embodying myinvention.

Fig. 2, is afull-sized vertical section of the upper bracket of therack, and also shows the upper extremity of the rod of the rack, inengagement with the said bracket.

Fig. 3, is a similar section of the lower bracket and also shows thelower extremity of the rod engaging said bracket and a device forpreventing disengagement of said parts.

Fig. 4, is a face-view of the lower bracket.

In the said drawing, a bracket 1, consists of a hollowvertically-elongated socket portion 2, provided at its upper corner withan opening 3, lying in an inclined plane, and a flange 4, projectingoutwardly from the socket portion, and secured to a suitable support byscrews 5, or equivalent attachingfdevices. 1 I

ertically below the bracket descrlbed, 1s a second bracket 6, consistingof a hollow vertically-elongated socket portion 7, and a flange 8,through which attaching devices 9 extend to fasten it to the support. Inthe front or inner end of the socket portion is formed an invertedkeyhole slot 10, and in arm being arched or humped at 12 where itprojects from the upright portion, for a purpose WhlCll hereinafterappears.

The upper arm is also bent downward at .13 and terminates at its freeend in a short Patented Ma 17, 1921.

horizontal portion 14, the construction being such that an upper and alower shoulder 15 and 16 respectively, are formed at the junction ofortions' 13 and 14, the shoulder 15 being isposed nearer the freeextremity of portion 14 than the shoulder 16, so that when the portion14 is fitted in the socket portion 2, shoulder 15 will bear against theupper portion of the wall of the inclined slot 3, and the shoulder 16,which faces in the opposite direction from shoulder 15, will bearagainst the lower portion of the wall of said opening, as shown clearlyin Fig. 2.

To fit the upper arm of the rod in socket portion 2, the said arms mustbe arranged at such an angle that it shall extend approximately at rightangles to the inclination of the opening 3. It is then slipped into saidopening until the'shoulder 15- engages the upper part of the wall ofsaid opening, by which time the shoulder 16 is ap-. proximately in thelane of the inclination of the opening; he rod is then swung downwarduntil its portion 14 bears against the overlying part of socket'portion2, and shoulder 16 is within said socket portion and adjacent to thelower wall of its opening 3..

When thus arranged it will be impossible to withdraw the upper end ofthe rod from opening 3, without first swinging the rod upwardly tosubstantially the position it hole slot. Before such engagement can takeplace however, the rod must be sprung ,downward to permit its lower endto be pushed into the enlarged end of said keyhole slot, and as thisoccurs, the tendency of the rod to retract to normal condition,

causes said end to spring 11 ward and its notches to receive the saidsir e walls of the of said slot.

To prevent an unauthorized person from accomplishing the purpose lastreferred to,

the hasp of a small padlock 18 is engaged with hole 11, and the enlargedend of the,

keyhole slot, and to prevent displacement of the padlock, a small chain19 is fastened at its opposite ends to said padlock and the lowerbracket.

When the rod. is disengaged from the brackets, a large number ofperforated towels (not shown) can be slipped upon it, preferably on theupper arm,' and then the rod is secured to the brackets as explained,and the padlock is secured in place for the purpose of preventing anyone from readily slipping one of the towels off the rod. After eachclean towel suspended from the upper arm is used, it is slipped over thearched or humped portion 12 and down upon the upright portion and ontothe lower arm, where it hangs until removed for washing, it being notedthat the arched or humped portion of the rod guards against accidentalpassage of clean towels from the upper to the lower arm of the rod.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced atowel rack possessing-the features of advantage enumerated as desirablein the statement of the object of the invention, and I wish it to beunderstood that I reserve the right to make such changes as fall withinthe principle of construction defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A towel rack comprising a towel guide and retaining member;detachable connections for the ends of said member, one of saidconnections consisting of means for engaging and releasing thecorresponding end of said member when shifted out of normal position ofuse, and the other connection consisting of means for engaging andholding the corresponding member end in normal position of use; andmeans for locking said member end in engagement with said otherconnection, substantially as described.

2. A towel rack comprising a towel guide,

rod; detachable connections for the ends of said rod. one of saidconnections consisting of means for engaging and releasin thecorresponding end of said rod when sh fted out of normal position ofuse, and the other connection consisting of means for engagingandholding the corresponding rod end in normal position of use; andmeans for locking said rod end in engagement with said other connection,substantially as described.

3. A towel rack comprising a combined towel supporting and guide member;detachable connections for the ends of said member, one of saidconnections consisting of means for engaging and releasing thecorresponding end of said member when shifted out of normal position ofuse, and the towel supporting and guide rod detachable connections forthe ends of said rod, one of said connections consisting of means forengaging and releasing the corresponding end of said rod when shiftedout of normal position of use, and the other connection consisting ofmeans for engaging and holding the corresponding rod end in normal posi:tion of use; and means for locking said rod end in engagement with saidother connection, substantially as described.

5. A towel rack comprising upper and lower securing members adapted tobe ar-' ranged on a support, the upper member consisting of a socketadapted and arranged to receive a rod end when in upwardly inclinedposition and to interlock therewith when rocked downwardly intosubstantially horizontal position, and the lower securing memberconsisting of a socket havin an inverted key hole slot therein; a springrod bent into substantially U form and having its ends detachablyengaging said securing members; and a lock "arranged to lock the lowerend in the lower securing member, substantially as described.

6. A towel rack comprising a rod adapted to be threaded through towels,and embodying a horizontal arm, a vertical arm termi nating at its freeend below the free end of the horizontal arm, and a hump rising abovethe horizontal arm and connecting the same and the upper end of thevertical arm, a

having grooves at opposite sides to receive the edges of the walls'ofthe bracket at opposite sides of thenarrow portion of the keyhole slot.

8. Av towel rack comprising a pair of brackets, one being hollow andhaving a keyhole-shaped slot of which the narrow portion is nearest theother bracket, a U- shaped spring rod arranged with its armssubstantially horizontal, one of the arms engaging one of the bracketsand the other arm being capable of being fitted into the other bracketthrough the enlarged end of the keyhole slot thereof, the last-named armhaving grooves at opposite sides to receive the edges of the walls ofthe bracket at opposite sides of the narrow portion of the keyhole slot,and a locking device extending through the slotted bracket to preventthe 15 arm engaging the narrow portion of the keyhole slot from beingsprung downward into the enlarged portion of said slot.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

EDWIN T. BRIGHAM. lVitnesses:

HELEN C. RODGERS, G. Y. THORBE.

